From stability to knowledge: the Ash'arite knowledge argument in favour of occasionalism

Abstract

In the present thesis I will reconstruct the history of what I will call ‘the knowledge argument’, from al-Ashʿarī (873-935) till al-Ghazālī (1058-1111). The knowledge argument is deployed in favour of occasionalism, the theory that claims that God is the only cause and creator. In this thesis the development of the knowledge argument will be shown by noting the contribution each thinker made and the novelties they introduced. This study will be the first presentation of an argument of Muslim occasionalist by appealing to primary sources. The thesis ends with the discussion of the adversary 'Abd al-Jabbār (932-1025) criticism of the knowledge argument, whereby a more comprehensive presentation is given.